Do you ever question the genre you are producing?

I listen to numerous different genres and enjoy them all, but when I start producing, I mostly set the BPM to 125-130 and border the techno/ambient techno territory. It’s weird because all my life I have been interested in breakbeats, IDM, and songs with complex rhytmic structures.

Now I have had DJing years primarily focused on Techno, which were great, I also produced a handful of Techno songs I was proud of, but sometimes I can’t help but to think if I am getting bored of the music production process itself or the constant effort to break out of the boring 4/4 time signature, in an attempt to make techno more interesting. Elektron sequencer really helped me with this but I still put too much work in making my song “not similar” to ordinary techno, instead of just focusing on the sound I want. The general techno productions also have an effect in this, as a large portion of the scene is MDMA and chewing gum-oriented, thus making me try even harder to prove I am not one of them (not to diss them, I just don’t like the sound).

I don’t enjoy the big-room berlin techno style, the ones you only listen to because of the sub-verb technique. I like to make music similar to those released by Hypnus Records, Northern Electronics, Stroboscopic Artifacts, etc. Lately I have been asking myself if I only enjoy listening to quality techno in a good sound system, whereas producing it is not as exciting as it sounds. I think it becomes even more challenging if you only target a specific niche in that genre. Can anyone relate? Have you ever doubted the sound you are aiming for?

4 Likes

No.
If I dont like it, I dont keep it.
The idea that bpm defines genre is alien to me.

The tempo is dictated by the feeling of the groove, melody or bassline, not set arbitrarily so the piece sits in a little box next to everything else.

4 Likes

I question “genre”. Not just questioning “a genre”, but the notion of genre. What is it?

Once you get into the sub-genre game, you’re mostly dealing with marketing around a mood, or just the mood. And the sub-sub genres blend and merge and flow such that they don’t really mean anything. Anything with “intelligent” in the name is just stupid from the get-go.

When I DJ, I play by mood, groove and whimsy. Dubstep into 90s rave/hardcore, into hiphop/soul/funk. Or techno into electro (and on to space-y disco if I’ve managed to move the mood that way).

Forget genre. Tell your stories in rhythm, tone and contrast.

11 Likes

Brutal. :joy:

And I disagree… Bpm obvs doesn’t solely define the genre, but it’s a big part of it.

There seems to be so many formulaic approaches these days to making music- 135bpm, 4 on the floor kick, acid bassline in 3’s… boom, you know exactly what you’re getting.

To the OP, I personally think you need to get away from much external influence as possible and run your own race.
I love Elektronauts and find it 90% positive, but it’s really easy to get influenced into other peoples’ version of what is ‘right/good’ if you’re not careful.
YouTube amplifies this by 20.

Sounds a bit hippy, but the more you can define what you want to do inwardly, then work on it without distraction, the more likely you’ll end up with results you feel good about. :v:

7 Likes

Totally agree with this.
Never forget- music is the language of emotions.

1 Like

I think the solution can be minimizing the amount of music you listen to during the day. I find it impossible to compare my productions with the artists I listen to regularly. Maybe isolating yourself from the consumer side and getting lost in the producing side can be of help.

I kindly disagree with such romantic statements. I know that genre is not the first and foremost detail you need to pay attention to when producing music, but if you are willing to get your sounds included in the mixes or get your EP out there, you need to consider the sound, BPM and mastering a bit, even if you don’t want to.

1 Like

Yes, I do, in fact I’m not happy at all with the music I’m making.
I feel like I quickly lose track of what I would like to make in favor of infinite noodling and experimenting.
I just ordered a somehow stand alone instrument that is definitely capable of doing what I’d like and I’ll try to use it alone for a while to avoid distraction before introducing it in my extended setup.
But in the end music is just an hobby so as long as I’m having fun I gess it’s fine.

2 Likes

If those are priorities to you, fair enough, that’s cool… I’m talking about an earlier stage of the creative process, what you mentioned as considerations don’t come on my radar until way further down the line, if at all. :+1:

1 Like

…the genre question…

hmmmmm…i’m always struggeling on this one, since day one…

i know the feeling of not matching with the standard genre stereotypes to chosse from, if u have to relate to something for releasing within some catalog and catagory end of the day…

don’t go mad about it…pick the most common ones and add “experimental” and some totally opposite one to what U think it might be…that’s raising eyebrows…that’s never a bad thing…
beyond that, don’t bother and u will be fine…

if ur on four to the floor…hey, house is THE most common tag to pick…where u can’t go wrong in first place…who gives a shit…really…
sub genre fication is going so mad these days…pick one from there also…and ur good to go…
never ask that question before u start…
always try to answer the question once ur done…
different tempi are of course bound to different genres…
but any pre set up in tempo will drive u nuts and dried out sooner than later…
so go for flow…not rules…

and always invent ur own anyways…most of my shit is pi dub…post industrial dub…for example…
pi whaaat…!?
let them wonder, let them guess, let them rant…ur done with all that…next one…

1 Like

I have a couple of problems with “modern genres in electronic music” , particuarly if I look into sub- or sub-sub-genres.

On the one side I find it exciting to use many differnent sounds to create rhythms, melodies, and harmonies, even to concentrate on a wall of rhythmically well placed sounds without melodic context.

But reading articles about how to tell one genre apart from the others, I sometimes have the impression that basically a 4 beat per bar scheme is called a new genre, because a creative guy replaced a snare for a clap … or is using a squelchy bass line … okay this is an extremly simplified view … but nevertheless there seems to be a tendency …

My also simplified approach to genres is … I don’t care … if I like a piece of music, I listen and try to learn from it, and if I don’t like it, I forget about it. I also don’t care, if I create music, at least if it’s done for myself :wink:

1 Like

The idea of even trying to make music in an established electronic music genre is just suffocating to me. Strict BPM limits, limited amount of variation is drum patterns and high fidelity requirements are all extremely discouraging to me.

Nothing boring about 4/4 time signature.
It’s not a time signature’s fault that a boring track is boring, it’s the person that produced it.

Sounds like you’re in a creative rut and looking to find external reasons for it, when the problem might just be that you’re not feeling particularly creative right now. No big deal.

Maybe spend less time worrying about what you don’t want to sound like and focus more on what you do want to sound like and set up your gear/workflow/headspace accordingly.

10 Likes

No I just make music and if other people want to categorise it then it’s their problem.

6 Likes

I question myself all the time, but never the genre. Ideas take me somewhere and I go with them, and while I have a preference, I rarely end up where that preference expects me to go.

1 Like

4/4 alone is not boring, providing other percussive elements introduce richness in terms of rhythm. Otherwise, a 4/4 kick, and a hi-hat in every off beat is extremely boring to me. YMMV.

Did you just assume my genre ?

6 Likes

You mean four on the floor? 4/4 time is what most popular music is in.

My assigned genre is techno.

1 Like

Yes